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HAZLE TWP. — For the last two years, T.J. Meehan has been a leader for Lake-Lehman’s wrestling team.
This season, now a senior, he saw many youngsters blossom into championship wrestlers.
Meehan, a 220-pounder, also turned into a champion himself. After two years of medalling at the District 2 Class 2A Tournament, Meehan picked up his first district title on Saturday at Hazleton Area High School.
“It means everything to me. This has been the focus of our season so far,” Meehan said. “Just being the leader and knowing that you’re an important part of the team just makes you feel better about the season.”
Not only did he win one for himself, but he helped his team claim the team championship. The Black Knights crowned three champions and ran away with the team title with 203 points, finishing 35 points ahead of second-place Tunkhannock, which had five champions.
“That’s just another awesome thing that we did as a team,” Meehan said. “We’re a really close group of kids. I’m gonna miss it when I’m gone.”
Nick Zaboski at 170 pounds and Zach Stuart at 126 also won golds for the Black Knights. For Tunkhannock, Gavin D’Amato (145), Jeff Meader (182), Jhamal Zacharias (285), Owen Woods (106) and Dave Evans (120) all won golds. Hanover Area’s D.J. Erickson picked up his second straight district title at 152, while Wyoming Area freshman Connor Wrobleski (138) won his first championship.
Zaboski and Stuart, both sophomores, claimed their first titles. Zaboski defeated Wyoming Area’s Robin Wrobleski in the final by fall, while Stuart knocked off Blue Ridge’s Nathaniel McArthur by decision.
“It means I gotta keep working still and get to regionals and then get to the state tournament,” Zaboski said. “I only had one match get to the second period, so it was pretty impressive, but still I’m always looking to do bigger and better things.”
Erickson celebrated after his pin over Lake-Lehman’s Jake Trumbower in the third period for his second straight district title. For the Hawkeye senior, it was a win that helped his conditioning by staying on the mat into the third period, to prepare him for what’s to come at the Northeast Regional Tournament next weekend at Williamsport High School.
“It was big because it’s the last time I’m wrestling in the district tournament, so it was emotional,” Erickson said. “It’s been a long season, but we still got two weeks to go.”
The Tigers crowned five champions, the most of any team in the entire district. But it still wasn’t enough to overcome Lake-Lehman’s depth. D’Amato and Evans both won their second district titles after previously winning gold in Class 3A. Freshmen Meader and Woods and sophomore Zacharias all won in their first varsity seasons.
Zacharias didn’t even wrestle before this year. He was persuaded to try it out, and now he’s glad he did. He looked dominant at times against the 285-pound field, winning twice by decision and once by fall en route to the district title.
“It’s my first year obviously, but no, I wasn’t thinking district title. But it’s pretty fun,” Zacharias said. “I felt like I did pretty good. My coach said that I didn’t wrestle my best matches all year, but I thought I did pretty good.”
The main event of the 2A finals was the 132-pound bout between Lake-Lehman’s Bob Long, a past district champion and state qualifier versus Montrose’s Joe Hester, a three-time district medalist. In a back-and-forth match, Hester won the match 6-5 thanks to a reversal in the third period then rode out long for the win.
“Bob needed one at the end to get out, but Hester’s tough — but what are you gonna do, you gotta move on,” Black Knights coach Jay Konigus said. “At the end of the day, it’s districts, we have our sights set on bigger, bigger things, looking at the state tournament. … Hester’s tough, Bob’s tough. They’re gonna see each other again.”
Lake-Lehman advanced eight to the regional tournament, while six from Tunkhannock move on. Wyoming Area and Hanover Area each have three regional qualifiers.
In the final season for Meyers, Kris Fronseca took third at 106 pounds for the team’s lone regional qualifier.
District 2 Class 2A Tournament
Outstanding Wrestler: Joe Hester, Montrose
Lackawanna League Sportsmanship Award: Tim Esposito, Blue Ridge
WVC Sportsmanship Award: Anthony Mercadante, Meyers
Coach of the year: Jay Konigus and Mike Tereska, Lake-Lehman
Team Scores
1. Lake-Lehman (LL) 203; 2. Tunkhannock (Tun) 168; 3. Montrose (Mon) 134; 4. Scranton Prep (SP) 125; 5. Blue Ridge (BR) 117; 6. Western Wayne (WW) 99; 7. Lackawanna Trail (LT) 96.5; 8. Hanover Area (Han) 94; 9. Wyoming Area (WA) 83; 10. Meyers (Mey) 66; 11. Elk Lake (EL) 18; 12. Mountain View (MV) 15
Finals
106: Owen Woods (Tun) pinned Mason Konigus (LL) 2:00
113: Michael Bluhm (LT) pinned Gavin Crawford (BR) 2:59
120: Dave Evans (Tun) maj dec Antonio D’Apollonia (SP) 13-4
126: Zach Stuart (LL) dec Nathaniel McArthur (BR) 5-2
132: Joe Hester (Mon) dec Bob Long (LL) 6-5
138: Connor Wrobleski (WA) dec Joe Monahan (SP) 4-3
145: Gavin D’Amato (Tun) dec Hunter Burke (LL) 3-2
152: DJ Erickson (Han) pinned Jake Trumbower (LL) 5:31
160: Kasen Taylor (WW) default Alec Butner (SP) 4:30
170: Nick Zaboski (LL) pinned Robin Wrobleski (WA) 4:40
182: Jeff Meader (Tun) default Hunter Karpovich (Han) :54
195: Bryan Ryan (Mon) dec Jaryn Polit-Moran (WA) 1-0
220: T.J. Meehan (LL) pinned Eli Aldrich (BR) 2:06
285: Jhamal Zacharias (Tun) dec Justin Kelly (Mon) 3-2
Third Place
106: Kris Fronseca (Mey) pinned Nick Harder (Mon) :57
113: Jack Lynett (SP) dec Zach Murphy (Han) 8-6
120: Joe Rowley (Han) maj dec Kyle Emsley (WA) 9-0
126: Ayden Berndt (SP) pinned Andrew Rosevear (Mon) :41
132: Dalten Klinges (LT) forfeit Mitchell Herzog (WW)
138: Josh Bonomo (LL) maj dec Cullen Ratchford (LT) 17-5
145: Matthew Leslie (WW) dec Oliver Egan (SP) 7-3
152: Adam Roe (BR) maj dec Bryce Genello (SP) 13-2
160: Tom Gudykunst (BR) pinned Savon Collins (Mey) 3:34
170: Alex Hollister (WW) pinned Colin Mulhern (LT) 3:00
182: Marc Avila (Mon) dec Vincent Bowers (WA) 4-1
195: Nick Marabell (Tun) pinned Tom Nalbone (LL) 1:28
220: Bryce Vanfleet (LT) pinned Seamus Fish (Mon) :41
285: Jack McAllister (WW) pinned Cole Robbinslong (LL) 2:07
